Consumers who buy online make more frequent purchases. IGN’s survey found that:

— Consumers who buy from online stores make purchases an average of five times per month.

— Those who prefer to shop brick and mortar stores make purchases an average of just over three times per month.

They usually play multiple types of games. Almost 80 percent of respondents purchase Action games; 72 percent buy RPG games and 70 percent FPS titles. Large percentages also play Adventure games, Fighting games, RTS, Strategy and War games.

Renting Games Provide Opportunity for Trial, Often Leads to Purchase

Video game rentals are a popular way for gamers to decide if they want to invest the money to own a title.

— More than 50 percent of the respondents rent video games, on average about 11 games per month.

— More than 60 percent of those who rent games say they eventually purchase the title they rented.

For PC games, avid gamers rate Best Buy, Electronics Boutique and Wal-Mart as their favorite offline retail outlets. For console games, they prefer Electronics Boutique, GameStop and Best Buy. For accessories gamers prefer Best Buy, Walmart.com and Electronics Boutique.

The top e-tailers for PC games are Walmart.com, Amazon.com and EBGames.com. For console games, they name Amazon.com, EBGames.com and Ebay/Half.com. Gamers like Walmart.com, Ebay/Half.com and Amazon.com for accessories. The top reason for shopping in a specific location store or site was, “The store’s price, relative to other stores.”